The Tycoon's Marriage Deal Read online

  Tillie walked with him to where his car was parked a couple of spaces down from her shop. ‘Where are we going?’

  ‘A drive.’

  ‘Where to?’

  ‘Just a drive.’

  She frowned at him once he’d taken his place behind the wheel after settling her in the passenger side. She couldn’t read his expression for it seemed a shutter had come down now they no longer had an audience. She turned back to face the front and didn’t speak again until they were clear of the village and out on the country lane that led past McClelland Park. ‘I do have a job to do, you know. I run a small business that requires me to be there eight to ten hours a—’

  ‘Why didn’t you tell me you were a virgin?’

  Tillie blinked in shock. How on earth did he know that? Who else knew? It wasn’t something she talked about with any of her friends. Although, come to think of it, a few months ago Simon had been prone to lecturing anyone who would listen about the benefits of being celibate. She wondered now if he’d done that because he’d been sleeping with his new girlfriend at the time. Or was it because everyone in the village saw Tillie as conservative and old-fashioned? A nineteenth-century throwback too prudish to show an ankle in public. Maybe they secretly blamed her for Simon running off with someone else. ‘I can’t imagine how you came by that information or how you could possibly believe it’s true.’

  ‘Is it?’

  Tillie folded her arms across her chest and stared straight ahead. ‘I’m not going to answer such an impertinent question.’

  The car slowed to a stop by the side of the road and Blake turned off the engine and swivelled in his seat to look at her. ‘So it is true.’

  She chanced a glance to find him watching her with a thoughtful expression. ‘So what if it is?’

  ‘How old are you?’

  ‘Twenty-four.’

  ‘A bit old to be a virgin in this day and age, isn’t it?’

  Tillie looked at the cows snatching mouthfuls of lush green grass in the field nearby. It was a bit old, but she’d only agreed to it because Simon had insisted. She hadn’t questioned it because she knew her parents, and then her stepmother too, had also abstained before marriage. It was common with people of faith; there were even celibacy movements amongst young people all around the globe. But she couldn’t help wondering if Simon had never truly wanted her but had been using her as a back-up plan until someone more attractive came along. The absence of a strong pull of attraction in her relationship with Simon was only apparent to her now she had met Blake. No amount of mountain-shifting faith, no strength of conviction could withstand the incendiary heat that flared between her and Blake.

  ‘Simon didn’t believe in sex before marriage,’ she said. ‘Not unless it was with a size zero blonde who looked like she should still be in school.’

  ‘You didn’t...try and change his mind?’ Blake asked after a small silence.

  Tillie had tried that once and it had spectacularly failed. She still cringed in embarrassment thinking about it. Simon had gone all preachy on her and made her feel abnormal for giving in to ‘base desires’, as he’d called them.

  ‘You mean seduce him?’ She gave a snorting laugh. ‘Not my forte at all, I’m afraid.’

  ‘I don’t know about that.’

  She couldn’t stop her gaze going to the curve of his mouth. She swallowed and dragged her eyes back to his. ‘Can we talk about something else?’

  He reached out a hand and picked up a loose curl and slowly but surely wound it around one of his fingers. ‘You’re a beautiful woman. Don’t let anyone tell you you’re not.’

  Tillie leaned closer as if to inspect the function of his eyes. ‘Do you need glasses? Because I’m not sure what school of beauty you subscribe to but no way would I ever describe myself as beautiful. Passable maybe, but not beautiful.’

  He still had hold of her hair, inexorably drawing her closer and closer as if reeling her into his orbit. His gaze kept going to her mouth as if, like her, he couldn’t stop himself. ‘You’re too hard on yourself. I find intelligence enormously attractive. Sexy too.’

  So did Tillie. But then, she found everything about Blake McClelland attractive and sexy. ‘Right, well, thanks for the compliment but I have a business to run so if you’re done with talking then—’

  ‘When I asked you to play this charade with me I intended to sleep with you,’ Blake said, releasing her hair to sit back against his seat.

  Tillie gave him a pointed look. ‘Was my consent a part of your plan?’

  A frown snapped his brows together. ‘Of course it was. I’m not the sort of man who forces himself on a woman.’ He let out a gust of a breath and the frown relaxed but only slightly. ‘I’m also not the sort of man who gets involved with virgins.’

  All virgins? Or only plus-size ones who aren’t considered classically beautiful?

  ‘So what’s with the anti-virgin bias?’ she asked.

  ‘Women who’ve waited to have sex until they meet the right person are usually waiting for the fairy tale,’ he said. ‘It wouldn’t be fair to sleep with them and then ride off into the sunset without them.’

  ‘You don’t see yourself getting married one day?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘Better not tell the rest of the village that or they’ll be after you with feathers and a pot of tar,’ Tillie said.

  He gave a soft laugh that didn’t sound all that amused. ‘Yes, well, you think I don’t know that? Which is why we’re not going to get down to business.’

  She arched her brow. ‘Did I say I was going to sleep with you?’

  The look he gave her made her want to tear off her clothes and throw herself at him then and there. ‘I haven’t had anyone turn me down before.’

  Tillie felt a faint thrill at being the first. Faint because she didn’t want to turn him down. She wanted to crush her mouth to his and open her lips for the smooth thrust of his tongue, to push her breasts up against his chest, to push her hips against his and feel the stirring of his arousal in the throb of his blood.

  She wanted. She wanted. She wanted.

  The air seemed to pulsate with the sexual energy that flared between their locked gazes.

  ‘Don’t even think about it.’ His voice had a note of stern authority.

  ‘You don’t know what I’m thinking,’ Tillie said, quickly schooling her features.

  One corner of his mouth came up. ‘Don’t I?’ He reached out a fingertip and traced the line of her mouth like someone reading Braille—the top lip and the lower one, as if memorising their contours.

  Tillie hadn’t known how many nerve endings were in her lips. She hadn’t known how hard it would be to resist such a caress. She hadn’t known she didn’t have the willpower to. Where was her willpower? ‘Tell me what I’m thinking, then.’

  His finger grazed the curve of her cheek. ‘You’re thinking how it would be—you and me—getting it on.’

  ‘Actually, I’m thinking of the christening cake I have to decorate before the weekend,’ Tillie said.

  ‘Liar.’

  His fingertip found her ear and did a slow circuit of her cartilage until she had to hold her breath to stop from whimpering in delight. His mouth came closer as if in slow motion, his warm hint-of-cinnamon-scented breath mingling with hers in the tiny space that separated their mouths. She closed the distance and touched her mouth against his with a feather-light brush, but it wasn’t enough. She wanted more. She pushed her lips against his in a playful nudge, a part of her looking from above and wondering where she had been hiding this sensual side of herself for all these years.

  Blake took control of the kiss with a muttered groan, his arms gathering her closer, almost crushing her as his mouth moved with passionate urgency against hers. She opened to the commanding thrust of his tongue, welcoming it into the cavern of her mouth, tangling with it in a cat and mouse caper that made the desire deep in her core break free from its restraints. It flooded her body like a sizzling h
ot tide, sweeping away all the reasons why she shouldn’t be encouraging this sort of interaction with him. Right now all she could think about was how amazing his mouth felt on hers. How thrilling it was to have him as turned on by her as she was by him. The guttural sounds he was making made her shiver all over as if someone had dusted her body with sparkly glitter and filled her blood with bubbles.

  No one had ever kissed her like this. Not with such heat and intensity. Not with such ferocious desire that matched her own. She could feel her body preparing itself—her female flesh aching for friction to bring the release it craved.

  She could hear the noises she was making. Primal noises. Noises of encouragement and approval. Noises of pleasure—whimpers and gasps and little groans that sounded nothing like her. She linked her arms around his neck, pushing her breasts as close to him as the gear console allowed, her fingers toying with the wavy ends of his dark brown hair that were brushing against his collar. She breathed in the clean male scent of him, the notes of lime and citrus, tasted the hint of mint on his tongue, ached for him with a pulse throbbing like a drum beat between her thighs. Desire hijacked her body, making it a slave to the sensations powering through her body—shockingly addictive sensations his touch evoked. Every movement of his mouth, every thrust and glide of his tongue, every nip and nudge of his teeth stirred her senses into a fireball of longing, sending arrows of heat to her core.

  * * *

  Blake suddenly pulled away, breathing heavily. ‘Okay. Time out.’ He sat back against his driver’s seat and took a steadying breath, his hands gripping the steering wheel as if to anchor himself.

  Tillie sat back and smoothed her hands down her skirt, trying to get her body to settle down but it wasn’t listening. Needs she hadn’t been aware of were thrumming inside her—deep, deep inside her. If she squeezed her legs together it only made it worse. It was a shock to realise how close she’d been to begging him to finish what he’d started.

  Or had he started it?

  There was a painfully long silence.

  ‘Aren’t you going to say anything?’ she asked.

  He opened and closed his fingers on the steering wheel for a moment, his brows still jammed together over his eyes. ‘I’m not sure it’s a good idea for me to move in to the Park straight away.’

  Not a good idea? It was a brilliant idea. No one would think she was too old-fashioned once she had Blake installed at the house. ‘But you have to. I’ve told everyone you’re moving in tonight.’ She gave him a probing look. ‘You do want McClelland Park back, right?’

  ‘You know I do. But I have some business to see to in Edinburgh for a few days.’

  ‘You didn’t mention anything about business yesterday when you came to see me at the house. We were going to go for dinner.’

  His face got a boxed-up look about it. ‘It’s come up since then. It’s...urgent.’

  What was urgent? His business or his need to get away from temptation? It was weird thinking of herself as a temptation. She had never tempted Simon beyond his control. Not once in eight years. A thrill trickled through her body at the thought of Blake wanting her so badly he felt the need to distance himself.

  Maybe size zero blondes didn’t have all the fun after all.

  He turned over the engine. ‘I’d better get you back to work.’ And glancing over his shoulder, he drove back out into the lane, spraying arcs of loose gravel out from under the spinning tyres.

  * * *

  Okay, so that went well.

  Blake drove away after dropping Tillie back at her shop. He couldn’t get that kiss out of his mind. He’d been like a horny teenager necking by the side of the road. He was supposed to be putting the brakes on now he’d found out she was a virgin. But as soon as her lips met his it was all he could do to keep his hands off her. Her inexperience was supposed to be helping him keep his distance, but instead it was drawing him to her like an alcoholic to a free wine tasting.

  Her mouth was so soft and sexy beneath his. It responded to his as if he were feeding her the air she needed to stay alive. It had damn near killed him to pull back. He’d wanted to keep on kissing her, to touch her, to peel those clothes off her and put his mouth on those gorgeous breasts he’d felt crushed up against his chest.

  He had to get control of himself. He was supposed to be focussed on getting McClelland Park back, not having a fling with a girl who had been saving herself for Prince Charming. Tillie responded to him as if she had never been kissed properly before. But then, maybe she hadn’t if her ex had had his interest invested elsewhere. She kissed with her whole body, throwing so much passion into the mix he could only imagine what it would be like to make love to her.

  You could offer her a fling.

  The thought nibbled at the edges of his conscience like a mouse at wainscoting. Tillie was attracted to him; there was no doubt in his mind about that. But would she agree to a short-term fling when she had the fairy tale as her ultimate goal? Girls like Tillie did not do flings. Girls like Tillie waited years for the right guy to put a ring on their finger and promise them for ever.

  Blake was a for-now guy. He had a mission and once it was completed he would be moving on. And he wasn’t taking anyone with him when he left. No baggage meant exactly that: No. Baggage. He travelled light when it came to his emotions because that was the way to keep control. Control was his thing. He didn’t need to sit on some therapist’s sofa to know it had something to do with losing his mother when he was a kid. He’d seen what happened when emotions took over. They stopped people thinking clearly. They confused and distorted things.

  He kept his head clear by focussing on the task. So what if he was a workaholic? It was his determined focus that had clawed back the wealth—and more—that had been lost when his father had his breakdown. Blake’s ability to make tough business decisions without involving emotion had been the blueprint for his success. As soon as people allowed feelings into the mix things started to get messy. He had seen previously successful companies fall over as soon as feelings started flirting with the numbers. It was numbers you could rely on, not spur-of-the-moment impulses.

  He’d thought it would be so simple talking Tillie into helping him to get McClelland Park back. When he’d heard on the village grapevine about her being jilted and the debt she was in, he’d thought he could use her situation to his advantage: a month pretending to be his fiancée in exchange for clearing her debts. Too easy...or so he’d thought. But he hadn’t considered the aftermath of such an arrangement. He planned to have his father live at the Park in the not too distant future. If Blake messed with Tillie the whole darn village would run him out of town and perhaps make things awkward for his dad. She was the village saint and he would be asking to have his kneecaps taken out with a cricket bat if he did the wrong thing by her.

  Although she wasn’t averse to messing with him, the cheeky little minx. The way she’d laid it on with a trowel in front of her customer with all that rubbish about him weeping over his proposal. He had nothing against men crying, but it had been a long time since his tear ducts had had a workout.

  But that was what he liked about Tillie. She wasn’t a pushover. She gave as good as she got and didn’t seem in the least fazed by being outmatched by her opponent. He was looking forward to further interactions with her, even if it meant he’d have to shackle and double padlock his desire.

  Anyway, a bout of celibacy might do him good.

  Really looking forward to that.

  Not.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  TILLIE HAD TAKEN Truffles to see Mr Pendleton and was back at McClelland Park keeping an eye on some cookies she had baking in the oven. She hadn’t seen Blake for almost a week. When he’d first told her he was going to be away she’d been worried about what people would think given she’d announced to everyone he was moving in with her. But as each day passed with little or no contact from him, she felt strangely deflated, like a solitary balloon left behind after a party. She didn’t wan
t to admit how much she was looking forward to seeing him. Nor did she want to admit how boring her life was without him coming into the shop and giving her those glinting looks across the counter. She couldn’t even look at a chocolate éclair now without a frisson passing over her flesh.

  Tillie sent a text to Blake saying she’d leave a key to McClelland Park under a loose flagstone near the front door for when he got back in case she was still at work.

  Mr Pendleton was still refusing to believe she was really engaged to Blake. And it certainly hadn’t helped when he’d heard Blake was in Scotland. But because of his memory issues, the staff at the respite centre reassured her it was just a phase and he would hopefully come out of it soon.

  Every person who came into the shop stopped to chat about how wonderful it was she had found true love at last. Tillie was so good at lying now even she was starting to believe she was actually in love with Blake. The flutters in her tummy every time his name was mentioned made her wonder if her mind and her body were playing tricks on her. Surely you couldn’t act your way into feeling something?

  Tillie couldn’t decide whether to be embarrassed everyone thought she was ‘doing it’ with Blake or disappointed she was not. Ever since those kisses her body had been feeling restless. It was as if a hunger had been awakened and nothing but him would satisfy it. If she closed her eyes she could recall every second of his mouth on hers, the way it felt, the way it tasted, the way his stubble left graze marks on her skin that she had to use make-up to cover.

  When he’d first come to her with his plan, his intention had clearly been to seduce her into the bargain. But since finding out she was a virgin he had pulled back...apart from that kiss, that was. Could she indulge in a little fling with him? It wasn’t as if she was going to fall in love with him. Her mind could play all the tricks it liked on her. She wasn’t going to fall in love with anyone. No, siree. Not after the last time. Blake would be a means to an end just as he’d intended her to be for him.